Because They Don't Play Poker
by reinkarnation
Summary: 13/Cam femslash. What happens when everyone decides to play poker at the Christmas party? Well, basically, Cameron and Thirteen get left out. And, no, they're not drunk. *COMPLETED*
1. Chapter 1

Originally, this fic is a one-shot. But it has four different scenes that make it really long, so I decided to post this in two chapters instead, since putting it all in one chapter would be kind of... tacky and tiring to the eyes. I have to take care of you readers, you know. LOL. I'll be posting the next part in a few days. Let's all be patient, and we'll all be happy. LOL. You know the drill. Thoughts are in italics. Some words that aren't thoughts are italicized for emphasis. And, oh, please don't crucify me if this is a late Christmas fic. It's not my fault this story wrote itself. Cheers.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. And the show.

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**Because They Don't Play Poker**

_There she is._ Thirteen observed the blonde ER doctor through the transparent door. She had been searching for Cameron all over the hospital since the minute she realized that Cameron was missing in action at the Christmas party in the hospital lobby, only to find her in her office in the ER.

Thirteen knocked on the door and waited to be let in. Cameron had her back turned – she was busy rummaging her file cabinet – and didn't seem to hear the knock.

Cameron heard the door open and felt a little annoyed. She heard the knock, alright, but chose to ignore it, hoping that whoever it was behind the door would take the hint and go away. She really wanted to be alone at the moment. Assuming that it was House – known for trespassing and no manners, she turned around to tell him to leave.

But, oh, it wasn't House. It was her counterpart._ Thirteen._ Thirteen held Cameron's stare.

The older doctor broke the eye contact and went back to rummaging her cabinet. "What are you doing here?" she deadpanned, her voice slightly quivering. No, that wasn't a euphemism for _go away_. So, as it seemed, it was not okay when House barged in her office, but it was okay when Thirteen did. That's a little weird, though.

The younger doctor could tell right away that Cameron was not in the mood – her shaky voice indicated that she must have been crying. But Thirteen wasn't just going to let her push her away. "Nothing. I just noticed you weren't at the party," she answered.

Half an hour ago, everyone decided to play poker, led by card shark himself – House. Not fond of card games, Thirteen refused to join and preferred to be in company with Cameron instead who, like her, wasn't a fan of poker. But the blonde was nowhere to be found, and that explained why Thirteen came to look for her.

Silence. Thirteen just kept on observing the older doctor. It took her a while to realize that Cameron wasn't just rummaging her cabinet. She was arranging it. "Why are you arranging your files at a time like this?" Thirteen asked.

"Apparently, your boss thinks it's funny to play with the patients' records."

"House messed with your file cabinet?" Thirteen asked. They sure didn't know that that was one of House's favorite pranks. His favorite victim – Cuddy.

"Yeah, after I refused to arrange his," Cameron answered. The last time she was forced to arrange his files, House accused her of secretly wanting to come back to his team. He even told her to "just say the word, I'll fire Thirteen." No, Cameron didn't want to come back to House's team. Nor did she want to get Thirteen fired – although she got back at House by accusing him of hiring Thirteen to replace her. Cameron and House just really loved accusing each other, didn't they? But it was just not fair that Thirteen got to be the receiving end of the joke.

"But that's my job now," Thirteen said. House designated her to do everything Cameron used to do in the old team – except maybe letting her use his marker and write on his whiteboard. House should really think about giving her a chance. Who knows, Thirteen's letter G might not be as "so girly" as Cameron's and might not look like it was written by a "junior high school girl".

"Looks like you're not the only one who he wants to torture," Cameron said. _Oh, Thirteen, you don't know what it was like before you came._ In fact, Thirteen's application to work in this hospital was a blessing in disguise, because it gave House confusion as to whom he should harass more – Cameron, Thirteen, or Cuddy. That still didn't seem to work, however, for House still had the ability to harass everyone. "I hate him," Cameron groaned.

"Who doesn't?" Thirteen smirked, trying to make things light.

The two doctors dwelled in comfortable silence until Thirteen heard soft sobs.

To be able to see Cameron's face, Thirteen walked nearer to her, and she saw her crying. Thirteen momentarily closed her own eyes and held her breath. She had never seen Cameron cry before, and she intended to keep it that way, because she knew that once she saw that happen, Cameron's tears could potentially break her heart into pieces. And that was what Thirteen was feeling right now.

She looked at Cameron again. "You're not… crying about your file cabinet, are you?" she asked. She didn't honestly think Cameron would cry over House's pranks. Cameron might be emotional, but she was way stronger than a file cabinet. There must be some other reason for her tears.

Silence. Figuring that the other doctor wasn't going to talk, Thirteen walked over to Cameron's desk and found a folder of one of Cameron's recent patients. She studied the file. _Ethan Harrington. 18 years old. Car crash. Dead._

"He was so young," Cameron said in between muffled sobs, still arranging her cabinet, when she sensed Thirteen was checking the file.

The brunette doctor looked at her and checked the file again. _Date and time of death: December 25, 2008. 4:41 pm._ _So this is what she's crying about._ "It was inevitable," she told Cameron.

Two hours ago, at the Christmas party, Cameron was just too upset about Ethan's death she couldn't even drink a glass of water without choking up. Ethan was her last patient of the day. And he died. Was that comforting news? _No._ Cameron then went to her office to be alone. She hadn't stored Ethan's file yet, and just when she was about to do that, she found out her file cabinet was in disarray. House couldn't have done a better job at ruining her Christmas even more.

"No, Thirteen. He died because I didn't do enough to help him," Cameron said.

"Are you kidding? You work your ass off everyday in the ER, doing the best you could to help people. I don't think anyone else in this hospital works harder than you do."

Silence.

"He could have lived," Cameron said, still not dropping the issue.

"Death is something we can't stop."

"No. Death happens when something or someone screws up. This time, _I_ screwed up." Cameron just couldn't let go of what happened. She felt responsible for the guy's death, especially when she knew he could've lived. That's just really how she was. Although she had become emotionally stronger through years of working for House, she still cried over dead patients. And Ethan Harrington's case wasn't just any other ordinary case, because he didn't die on just any other ordinary day. And that was what hurt the most. _No one is supposed to die on Christmas._

Thirteen just stared at Cameron. She wondered how on earth someone could be so guilt-ridden over something that no one has control of. But then again, this was Cameron – she felt guilty over everything. Thirteen wanted to let her know that even though Ethan _died_ under her care, that didn't mean she _killed_ him. There just really was a big difference to that.

"You're giving yourself way too much credit," Thirteen joked sarcastically, trying to make Cameron feel better. "It's not your fault. Look, death is simply the end of biological function. That's it. It's never someone's fault."

Silence. Cameron wasn't listening. She _refused_ to listen and just went on filing her cabinet to distract herself while silently crying and wallowing in guilt.

"Please stop that," Thirteen said, moving closer to Cameron. "Dr. Cameron, it's okay. Don't cry. Please stop." She tried to reach for Cameron's hands to make her stop arranging her cabinet, but Cameron just flailed her hands away.

"Hey!" Thirteen suddenly exclaimed to get the other doctor's undivided attention. The blonde froze and looked at her with teary eyes. "It's okay," Thirteen told her gently. "Put the folders down," she said as if the folders were some kind of deadly weapons. She slowly reached out to take the files away from Cameron's hands. Surprisingly, the other doctor didn't resist.

Unsure of what else to do, Thirteen took Cameron into her arms almost reluctantly. She was never one who would normally offer emotional comfort or would initiate hugs – those were actually Cameron's specialties – but right now, she knew Cameron needed someone to cry on. As strange as it seemed, Thirteen was willing to switch roles with her for the time being.

Crying as silently as humanly possible, Cameron just clung to Thirteen steadfastly and shut her eyes as she couldn't erase from her mind the image of Ethan's parents glaring at her grievingly and angrily at the same time when she told them that their son was gone. Thirteen just held on to Cameron tightly, with her hands around Cameron's waist, standing as firmly as ever to prevent herself from falling backwards since Cameron seemed to be putting all her weight against her. Never had Thirteen seen the ER doctor like this before. _She's so… vulnerable._

They were truly a touching sight to behold. But what was more amazing was how everything seemed so natural and comfortable between them. They seemed to fit perfectly well in each other's arms. They almost didn't want to let go.

* * *

But all good things must come to an end, and they did let go. But good things just don't end without… well, creating another chain of good things, and half an hour later, they halted their little drama in Cameron's office, went back to the Christmas party still transpiring in the lobby, and decided to be inseparable – probably because everyone was still playing poker and they were left out of the group. Misery doth love company.

However, there was not the slightest bit of evidence that the two ladies were miserable, because they soon found themselves chatting and narrating hospital experiences – well, _Cameron's_ experiences, at least, since Thirteen didn't want to talk about her life whilst residing in the country called Mystery – as if they were friends, which they were not. How that was even possible would forever be punctuated with a question mark.

They didn't necessarily disclose their life stories to each other. Thirteen wasn't the talkative type, but she was trying her best to distract Cameron from thinking about Ethan – which was, in fact, not a difficult thing to do as something about the blonde doctor just really made her comfortable enough to talk. Although Cameron did most of the talking, it was a relief to finally get to converse with someone who wouldn't constantly pop Vicodin in the middle of a conversation and who wouldn't call you names like _lesbian_ or _thirty-one_.

An hour and a trillion light years ago, Thirteen and Cameron barely knew each other and only talked about lupus or something, but now, they actually expanded their range of topics to astronomy – yes, still a branch of science, but definitely an improvement to _lupus_.

Or maybe they were just drunk. Or maybe not.

Cameron was just taking a sip of her drink when Thirteen, observing the people in the room, strayed from the wonderful subject of astronomy and told her that House was staring at Cuddy's cleavage. Letting out a sudden snort, Cameron choked on her drink, and some of it actually squirted out of her nose. No, not exactly the event you'd love to write in your autobiography.

"Oh God, I am _so_ sorry!" Thirteen exclaimed, immediately grabbing a napkin and scooting over to Cameron on the sofa to help her wipe her face.

"You could have at least waited 'til I finished my drink before you threw in that punch line!" Cameron said, embarrassed.

"I didn't know you would choke!"

"Well, now you do!"

"I'm sorry! Who would've known you'd react like that to House staring at Cuddy's cleavage?"

"I was off-guard! We were talking about Pluto!" Cameron countered.

The two women looked at each other before Cameron burst out laughing at the silliness of it all, and Thirteen just smiled at her amusingly. No, there was nothing funny; arguing about nonsense was _not_ funny. They must be really drunk.

No, actually, they were only drinking _water_. They _couldn't_ be drunk.

Thirteen gently dabbed Cameron's nose and chin with a napkin. "Really, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" She smiled to herself at how cute Cameron was when she's all messy like a little child.

Cameron decided to suck it up. Thirteen had already seen her cry earlier – with a runny nose and all; what difference would a humiliating water-squirting-out-of-the-nose incident make? Besides, it wasn't like Thirteen was going to preach this blunder to everyone like it's Gospel. _She wouldn't, would she?_ But still, the big difference was that no one else had seen Cameron squirt water out of her nose, so… that was still something you wouldn't want anyone to read in your autobiography.

"It's okay," Cameron said, holding Thirteen's hand that was clutching the napkin and guiding it to wipe her face.

But with all fortune totally against them, House – who allegedly has the ability to see anything within any range – saw them and instantly accused them of girl-on-girl action.

"Aww, that's so sweet. But you girls should get a room before you start playing tonsil hockey thirty seconds from now," House called out from the poker table. And thanks to that, everyone from Cuddy down to Taub glanced at the two women sitting together and caught them red-handed with Thirteen wiping Cameron's face. They all froze, and Thirteen, flushing, quickly pulled her hand away.

With one unanimous thought, everyone just stared at Cameron and Thirteen. _When did they become friends?? _Of course, there was no answer to that question since Cameron and Thirteen weren't friends. Yet.

"But if you would like to make out right then and there, I'd be very pleased to have the privilege of watching the free lesbian erotica Christmas show. Won't we all love that, boys?" House added, fanning his cards and looking at the guys around the poker table.

Wilson coughed. Kutner and Taub diverted their eyes to the ground. Foreman looked bored – which, by the way, was always. Chase snorted. No, they didn't look thrilled. But they secretly were.

"Hmm… no reaction from the male species? They don't seem delighted. But, trust me, they are, because silence means yes, and yes means permission to make out. So start the show, ladies!" House told Thirteen and Cameron from across the room. Cameron glared at him, and House smirked, "Seriously, Cameron, you even have your boyfriend's approval."

"Shut up, House. Let's get back to the game," Cuddy scoffed.

"Why, don't you wanna see Cameron and Thirteen kissing? I do, cos I'm getting tired of looking at your cleavage I can almost see Moses from here," House retorted calmly. Well, there went the subject that started the water-squirting-out-of-the-nose incident. Cuddy and House then continued to have a lovely banter that bestowed upon them the mental age of six.

While everyone else was snickering, Cameron let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that Cuddy and House stole the spotlight from her and Thirteen, and she couldn't be more thankful that their colleagues had the attention span of a table. Tables, apparently, don't have an attention span – which just proved Cameron's point all the more.

Cameron rolled her eyes, stood up, and took Thirteen's hand. The brunette just looked at her quizzically. "Let's go somewhere else," Cameron suggested. And with that, they grabbed their coats and went out of the hospital. Right then and there, the fact that Thirteen willingly went along with Cameron gave the two women the realization that they were finally in each other's friends list.

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Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Here it is -- as promised (or was it? LOL), chapter 2 a.k.a. the ending. Cheers.

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As soon as they were out of the hospital, they only got to walk as far as 30 steps before the gust and the cold of the snow got into them. They stopped walking and stay put.

"This will be the death of me," Cameron said in between shivers.

She looked at Thirteen beside her who was just staring blankly ahead, watching heaps of snow fall down from the sky. Thirteen wasn't moving, and Cameron suddenly had the terrifying silly thought that the brunette might have frozen.

"Uhh, hello?" she said, waving a hand in front of Thirteen's face. "If I die of hypothermia here, you're gonna have to drag my dead cold congealed body back into that hospital."

Thirteen broke from her daze and looked at the other doctor. "Why would I have to when I can just bury you under this giant mass of snow?" she deadpanned. Yes, that was a joke. And it was drier than the Sahara Desert.

Wrinkles appeared on the older doctor's forehead. Well, if wrinkles signified confusion, then Cameron must be _really_ confused right now. She wasn't sure if Thirteen was joking or not. "I was not kidding!" Cameron roared.

"I was!" Thirteen chuckled. _She takes snow seriously? Who on earth takes snow seriously? _Well, actually, there's this thing called avalanche, and you might want to take that seriously. Other than that, snow could be pretty harmless, maybe except for occasional blizzards and hailstones and… other stuff. "Why are you even complaining? _You_ brought _me_ here!"

"I just wanted to get away from our weird colleagues!"

Thirteen felt a little disappointed. It was stupid of her to think that Cameron took her out here _to be_ with her, and _not_ because she wanted to get away from their colleagues. Thirteen ignored the thought. "Well, if I have to choose between hanging out with our _weird_ colleagues or freezing to death out here with you –"

"Yeah, I get it. You'd rather be with them – with House's puns and all," Cameron said glumly.

Bringing Thirteen out here with her was obviously a bad idea. Actually, it wasn't – Thirteen _willingly_ went along with her, didn't she? So she too must've thought this was a good idea. No, being out in the snow together was not bad. It was just that freezing to death wasn't part of the plan.

"This is stupid. I'm sorry. Let's just go back." Cameron turned around to go back in, but a hand grabbed her own.

"Don't," Thirteen said, holding on to Cameron's hand tightly. A pair of blue eyes met another pair of blue, and a small sheepish smile cracked on Thirteen's lips. "Actually, I was gonna say I'd rather be with you in your office, arranging your files. So my choice would've been none of the above," Thirteen said, finishing where she left off seconds ago. She really didn't mind hanging out with their _weird_ colleagues, but she was with Cameron for most of the night, and it had been really fun. She didn't want that to end just yet.

Cameron was taken aback. "That's… an odd preference." _Arranging my files? That doesn't sound like a picnic. _No matter how nice it was to be with Thirteen, arranging files didn't sound… nice.

"You're normal. _Normal_ is always preferred over _weird_. Plus, your office is safer than… this place."

"You think so huh," Cameron said, picturing the image of her and Thirteen alone in her office earlier. It was their first moment alone, and Thirteen had been really sweet. Cameron never thought she'd see the day when she'd finally get to privately converse with the brunette; she didn't think it was possible for them to converse, let alone _privately_. But then, it happened, and it was really… nice.

"Yeah. Homeostasis won't fail in your office," Thirteen said.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "I'm a doctor. I know that," she said sarcastically.

Silence. The two ladies smiled at each other, enjoying their newfound friendship. Cameron couldn't believe how her Christmas had turned out. She might have lost a patient, but she gained a new friend. God really does make fair negotiations.

It was like it was only yesterday when Thirteen made a sarcastic "yeah, moves much faster this way" comment to Cameron when House wouldn't stop talking about her and Chase over the phone during their house search of their agoraphobic patient weeks ago. That incident really had Cameron thinking that she and Thirteen could never be friends since Thirteen obviously wanted nothing to do with her but business. Little did Cameron know that the real reason why Thirteen shut her off back then was because she didn't really wanna hear about Chase. She wasn't interested in _Chase_, if you get what that meant.

"Come," Thirteen said, grabbing the other doctor by the hand. With Cameron lagging behind her, she walked towards a tree just a few meters away from the hospital.

"Where are we going? I thought you'd rather arrange my files?"

"I changed my mind. Freezing to death sounds more exciting."

* * *

When they got to the tree, Cameron stopped on her tracks and tugged on Thirteen's hand but didn't let go. She rather liked the feel of Thirteen's hand in her own. "Oh no," Cameron said, feigning fear.

"What's wrong?" Thirteen asked.

"Is this… where you're going to kill me?" Cameron said, panning her eyes on the surroundings. Don't worry, she was kidding.

Thirteen looked at her skeptically. The last time she thought Cameron was joking, it turned out that she wasn't. Cameron had a confusing sense of humor. Apparently, to her, dragging a dead cold congealed body was _not_ funny, but getting killed by someone _was_? Thirteen took her chances anyway and _joked_ back, "No. Killers don't kill in broad daylight."

"This isn't broad daylight. We're alone," Cameron stated matter-of-factly. Okay, so that actually sounded like a death wish. Not really something you'd want to say to a killer.

Thirteen sighed. "Look, I'm gonna have to postpone killing you tonight, okay? I'm wearing D&G."

"Oh. Yeah. Wouldn't wanna put a blood stain on D&G," Cameron joked, fixing Thirteen's outfit. Then she observed her from head to toe and marveled at how someone could possibly look so gorgeous in a goddamned _winter_ outfit. "God, you really look good in that."

Thirteen just stared at the older doctor standing in front of her. Her cheeks burned. "I wouldn't have worn this if I didn't, would've I?" she said, raising her eyebrow playfully.

Cameron giggled. There was something about the younger doctor that could make her smile like she had never smiled before. Thirteen's sense of humor was different; sometimes you couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Sometimes she was like House – sarcastic, except that House was _annoyingly _sarcastic; Thirteen was _charmingly_ sarcastic.

_Charming_. Just the word to describe Thirteen's effect on Cameron right now.

Thirteen sat down on the snow, and Cameron just observed her. "We're not gonna sit on the bench?"

"Well, _I'm_ not gonna sit on the bench. But it's up to you. Those benches aren't going anywhere. But snow doesn't come everyday," Thirteen said, forming a small snowball.

Thirteen looked so cute and Cameron couldn't help but smile to herself. She had never seen Thirteen this laid-back. Sure, the brunette always looked calm and cool, but _laid-back _was a completely different word.

Cameron joined her and sat on the snow. As they sat there silently beside each other under the tree, Cameron took the chance to get to know her mysterious colleague. "Which do you like more – last Christmas or this Christmas? And why?" she asked. That was an absolutely random question, but that was a start.

"Last Christmas. Cos last year, I wasn't dying. Or at least didn't know I was," Thirteen answered, hugging her knees. She didn't exactly know why she was sharing these stuff to Cameron. All she knew was that it really felt good to say it out loud.

Cameron was taken aback. She didn't expect a direct answer. Heck, she didn't even expect _any_ answer. _Now what?_ Suddenly, there seemed like a lump in her throat. Gulping nervously, she thought of something to change the topic. Death had never been the favorite topic during Christmas – in fact, it was the topic they had tried to avoid all night. Cameron reached out to hold Thirteen's hand. "Throw me back the question," she said, squeezing Thirteen's hand.

"Which do you like more – last Christmas or this Christmas? And why?"

"This Christmas."

A big question mark was written all over Thirteen's face. Even her eyebrows seemed to form two question marks. She was so puzzled she didn't even notice that Cameron didn't answer the _why _question. '_This Christmas'? Really?? _"But… didn't I just catch you crying in your office hours ago? Didn't you just… lose a patient?"

"Yeah, and that's how I ended up here. Sitting on the snow under a tree. Freezing to death. With you."

That had a really good potential of being an explosive pick-up line, except for that _freezing to death _part. Well, that still made Thirteen smile anyway.

Cameron reached out to touch Thirteen's face, and the other doctor blushed. "You're a very beautiful person – inside and out. I like being with you," she said, rubbing her thumb against Thirteen's cheek. "And thank you for being with me. I can't think of a better way than this to spend Christmas," she added truthfully.

Thirteen's heart was throbbing; it was beating so loud she feared Cameron might hear it. Of all this time of working for House, she had been in denial about what she truly felt about House's former sole female fellow. She didn't know or understand why, but she didn't like what she felt. She wanted to keep things casual and professional.

Pretty girls had never been difficult to crush on, but Cameron wasn't just some random girl in a bar or some model in a magazine; she was someone Thirteen admired and looked up to. Thirteen had too much respect for her, and there was just no room for feelings – or she _refused_ to _provide_ any room for feelings, at least.

But now that she was alone with Cameron telling her all these things she never thought she would hear from her – or from anyone else, for that matter – Thirteen hit a realization.

She liked what she felt after all.

Cameron just smiled at her. The panicked expression and the blush on Thirteen's face made her look so cute; it made Cameron want to pick her up and put her in her pocket. She didn't know what Thirteen looked so panicked about. If only she knew…

"Do you know I have Mistletoe Syndrome?" Cameron suddenly blurted out, letting go of Thirteen's cheek.

"There _is_ a Mistletoe Syndrome?"

"No, I just made that up!" Cameron laughed. "Someone wasn't paying attention in med school," she teased.

"Hey, there are actually disorders like ABCD Syndrome and Retired Husband Syndrome and, uhh… Alice in Wonderland Syndrome or something. Who knows what other silly names there are out there. There might be something like… I dunno, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Syndrome or something of that sort that we don't know of. How was I supposed to know there was no Mistletoe Syndrome? It could've been some kind of illness you discovered or –"

"Thirteen," Cameron interrupted.

"What?"

"You're rambling."

Silence.

Thirteen felt like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Never had anyone seen or heard her rambling before. And the fact that Cameron was now staring at her as if she was watching a freak show didn't help at all. That didn't sound so comforting now, did it? Salvation was not near.

But, oh, salvation still came – in the form of a blonde ER doctor. "It's okay," Cameron said, stifling her laughter and reassuring Thirteen there was nothing to be embarrassed about. "And actually, you're right. Mistletoe Syndrome is something _I_ discovered. Cos I'm the only one in this world who has that illness right now."

One word for Thirteen: relief. "Really huh. So what are its symptoms?" she said, riding along Cameron's joke or… whatever that was, if she wasn't joking. Thirteen was just really glad Cameron didn't tease her for rambling. She just wanted to forget that it ever happened.

"Well, I don't have its specific symptoms right now. But first, I had hallucinations. I know, there are a lot of things that start from hallucinations, but I know this one's different. And, you know what, I'm actually hallucinating at this very moment."

Thirteen smirked, "You're lying. People who hallucinate never know they're hallucinating."

Before Thirteen knew what was going on, Cameron's lips met her own. And before she knew it, Cameron's lips separated from her own. Everything just went so fast that Thirteen felt a little giddy. She wasn't even sure if that was a kiss or if that was just something her brain-frozen mind had imagined.

Maybe they were just drunk. Maybe someone had replaced their water with vodka, or maybe someone had put something in their water minutes ago. But no. Cameron was perfectly fine. She was smiling. Seemed like she had been a little naughty. Tsk tsk tsk.

The smile on the older doctor's face assured Thirteen that what happened _really _happened and was not some figment of her imagination. That was still unbelievable, somehow. She had always perceived Cameron as straight. And by _straight_, that meant _someone who doesn't kiss their same-sex colleagues_.

That's when Thirteen got the joke. That kiss was _not_ a kiss after all. It was a _result_ of Cameron's alleged hallucination. "So that was it? You're hallucinating that I'm… Dr. Chase?" Thirteen asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

"No. I kissed you because we're sitting under the mistletoe."

_Huh??_ The last time Thirteen checked, the tree they were sitting under didn't grow mistletoe. Well, if it did grow mistletoe, then that was probably _the_ Christmas miracle – let's face it, House will never suddenly turn into a nice Vicodin-free gentlemanly doctor who talks to his patients like normal human beings.

Thirteen looked up at the tree to check if there really was mistletoe. There wasn't. "There's no mistletoe," she said.

"Exactly," Cameron replied, smiling innocently.

Thirteen looked at her. And the joke hit her. _Mistletoe Syndrome huh._ Cameron did really have her mischievous ways. She was not at all innocent. Thirteen just smiled back at her, thinking how she just got Punk'D by an ER doctor.

But, no, it had never been explained _why_ Cameron kissed Thirteen, or to put it in another way – _why_ she _pretended_ to hallucinate to kiss Thirteen. Guess we'll never know. Not everything gets to be explained on Christmas.

Thirty minutes later, the pair decided to go back to the hospital. It had been lovely – cold, but lovely – just sitting there under the tree and talking about stuff. Well, this time they had added another one to their repertoire of topics: Adam Brody. How they even got out of that conversation alive would remain a mystery.

Since Thirteen and Cameron didn't want to use the entrance to the lobby – House would surely jeer at them again, they chose to use one of the hospital's back doors. Thirteen was lagging behind Cameron, thinking deeply about something.

The door opened, and just when they were about to enter, Thirteen grabbed the older doctor's hand. "Dr. Cameron."

Cameron spun around, and Thirteen leaned in to kiss her. With her defenses down, Cameron almost surrendered to the taste of Thirteen's lips on her own. But before she knew it, it was over.

"What was that for?" Cameron asked.

"We're under the mistletoe," Thirteen said matter-of-factly.

_Dammit, House. _Cameron cursed under her breath. There was no one to blame but House – the ever brilliant curmudgeonly doctor who might have thought that hanging mistletoe on the back door was a great idea. And if they were lucky, he might have hidden a camera around here somewhere to see who fell for his prank. Oh, House and his genius.

Promising herself to strangle House later, Cameron looked up at the door to see the mistletoe. Okay, so she was wrong; maybe House was not to blame.

Because there was no mistletoe.

Confused, Cameron looked at Thirteen, and Thirteen rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, "Oh great. You didn't tell me Mistletoe Syndrome was contagious."

Cameron giggled and knew she just got Punk'D back. Brilliant Thirteen. Brilliant. These two women were sure having a Christmas merrier than they had imagined.

And, no, they weren't drunk.

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Let me know what you think. To everyone who reviewed the first chapter, thank you. You guys are awesome. And, oh, I just have to explain this. About Adam Brody... well, he's their common denominator. Olivia Wilde and Jennifer Morrison have co-starred with him in The OC and Grind, respectively. So... yeah, that was an inside joke.

To BiggerThanUs2006, bigblusky, meva desa, craftyns99, geekischic, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, buggeroff, Shananigan, BookwormKiwi: You all get free cookies! LOL.

To meva desa: Thanks! I feel special. LOL.

To buggeroff: Yeah, I would've wanted a snap from Thirteen too. But I figured I'd just wanted to show that though she can talk back to House, she can't do it in front of _everyone_. Seriously, _everyone. _Especially when they're all staring at her. And Cameron. LOL.

Again, let me know what you think. Well, if you want to.

EDITED: BookwormKiwi had mentioned that "If I think about it too much, it was very quick, them not being friends to kissing each other in a matter of hours, but what the hell, we were all expecting it anyway!". Actually, he/she was right. It was too fast for them to kiss over just one night. LOL. But I deliberately did that so that you guys can have your own interpretation of the kiss. Cameron initiated it, but we dunno why. Well, as I've written in the story, "But, no, it had never been explained _why_ Cameron kissed Thirteen, or to put it in another way – _why_ she _pretended_ to hallucinate to kiss Thirteen. Guess we'll never know. Not everything gets to be explained on Christmas."

I didn't wanna explain Cameron. I wanted _you readers_ to explain Cameron. That way, the story is open to all your ideas. I'm not making another chapter though, so... yeah, that's sad. LOL. (Thanks to BookwormKiwi for sharing his/her opinion. You're awesome!)


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